What do we need from you?

To enable us to investigate your complaint as quickly and fully as we can we ask you to provide as much of the information listed below as possible.

We appreciate that not all of the information will be relevant to your complaint and, where it is, that you may not know all of it; however, the more information you can provide at this stage, the better able we will be to assist you.

You must provide the following (your complaint will not be accepted if you do not provide these details):

The date of when the matter you wish to complain about occurred (complaints must be made within 3 months of the matter complained of)

Specific details of what you wish to complain about. If you feel that a judge was rude towards you it is not enough to provide statements such as ?the judge was rude?, you will need to explain what was said or done by the judge that you felt was rude; providing examples of the language used or behaviour shown.

It will also assist us if you can provide the following:

The court where the hearing took place (if applicable)

The relevant case number (if applicable)

The time of the hearing or incident (please try to be as specific as possible e.g. morning / afternoon / just prior to the lunch adjournment)

Details of any third parties who may have witnessed, or be able to support, your complaint (depending on the nature of your complaint it may be necessary for us to seek the views of any third parties who were present)

The examples below show some statements that do not provide enough information for us to investigate. Opposite each example is a similar statement which goes on to explain the sort of supporting information we would require to investigate your complaint.

Please note – the statements below are provided purely to illustrate the level of detail required. They should not be considered as definitive examples of the type of behaviour which could amount to personal misconduct by a judicial office holder.

Provides information that we can investigate

I felt that the judge was rude towards me because? (provide details of exactly what the judge said or did / the language used / actions or behaviour)

I felt that the judge was hostile towards me throughout the hearing. This was demonstrated by? (provide details of body language / actions or attitude / comments or behaviour)

It appeared as if the judge had fallen asleep during the hearing (provide details of supporting evidence such as eyes closed / snoring / did not respond to questions)